Looking to establish my brand by building knowledge in the game, networking with awesome people, as well as getting good at creative financing. 

Redo the hardwoods throughout the main floor, paint the whole house, put on new doors, and replace all the light fixtures.

The thought of carrying 2 mortgages is scary as I am brand new to all of this. 

@Joe SplitrockHe bought the car in 2017 brand new and overpaid when he bought it.

The temp lighting is up and the house is down to its framework at this time.With that being said I've ran some numbers in my area and considering the prolonged timing I've seen this house go untouched I thought, "what the heck, I'll hunt down the owner."

We're buying a brand new home in the Austin area.

But using the 50% rule of thumb as a conservative start to estimate capex/vacancy/repairs, they did not technicaly cash flow based on .5 x gross rent - PITI.I assume this is because with a brand new product, maintenance and capex will be really low for a long time am I right?

I'm brand new to real estate investing. 

Can anyone local or who is familiar with this area shed some light on this?

I've worked with investors with hundreds of units that have used 3rd party managers from day one, and probably couldn't change a light bulb by themselves.